Candlelight
by ERidg17
Summary: Takashi is the candle flickering between two lovers at dinner. Haruhi is the sun that he gravitates towards. Happy Birthday, Lizzy!


If Tamaki was an explosion of fireworks, Kyouya is the darkness after a fire has been extinguished. Hikaru is the bonfire that burns your legs and stings your eyes, and Kaoru is the light reflecting off the trees from the moon. Mitskuni is the nightlight you had as a child that kept the monsters in the closet.

Takashi is the candle on your birthday cake. The candle you light before sliding down into the water with your eyes closed. The candle that flickers between you and your lover on a romantic date. The candle that starts the house fire.

Haruhi is the sun.

It starts with him saving her, sweeping her - literally - off her feet and carrying her off, away from the eager crowds.

It grows when Haruhi becomes the heart of their tight-knit group and she meets his eyes and holds a conversation with him and turns to him when the others are being infuriating and irritating.

Everybody revolves around her. She has them wrapped so tightly around her pinkie that it's a miracle if they ever come unglued, and yet she doesn't wave it around like it's a trophy she's won, like they're a prize to be kept. Haruhi hoards it to herself, a little secret of their own, and she knows that they'd defy gravity and spin time backwards like unraveling a woolen blanket for her. And they know she'd hold the sky on her shoulders and bring back the stars for them.

But for Takashi, she brings him the stars when she walks in the room and smiles at him, and he makes her fly when he casually slides an arm around her shoulders.

After she and Hikaru and Kaoru graduate high school - _all wearing white, all with roses in their hair and tears in their eyes_ \- Takashi becomes a separate planet in the solar system that gravitates ever closer towards her.

Sometimes Takashi misses her so much it feels like an ache in his chest that won't go away, a longing to have her tucking his hair behind his ears again. And then she'll text him something witty that echoes in her voice in his head and he feels a bit better, enough to get through the rest of the day before going home and falling on the couch with her.

They become a tangle of limbs in front of the TV, with Haruhi on his chest, head tucked under his chin listening to the heartbeat that causes 7.7 earthquakes in her stomach.

Sometimes she really can't get enough of him. She'll kiss his hairline, the tips of his ears, the curve of his chin, the slope of his nose and still she wants to keep kissing him until her lips are raw. And even then, she'd still probably like to kiss when his hair points down to his broad forehead.

It's not to say they don't fight. They do, over the type of toothpaste and what time dinner should be and _Jesus fuck fine then Haruhi I won't wake you up again_. And then Haruhi will have a sleepover at Hikaru or Kaoru's apartment for a night or two, and Takashi will stay with Mitskuni and then they'll go home together after class and Takashi will try to lick the shadows out of the corners of Haruhi's mouth.

They agree to buy two types of toothpaste.

Their love is obvious and almost sickening at times -_ say the twins out of the corners of their mouths eyeing Haruhi over their hands_. Haruhi is terrified to leave the house without telling Takashi she loves him. She grew up in a house where her mother's last words to her father were 'I'll be late tonight' and she'll be damned if hers are the same. That part of her legacy can go untouched by her. Takashi doesn't mind.

Kyouya sneaks pictures in - _they'll want them at their wedding later_ \- and Mitskuni bakes them treats and leaves them on kitchen counters for them. The twins tease Haruhi relentlessly about him and are treated with affectionate love taps for their trouble. Tasaki, ever the loving idiot, tries to protect his precious daughter, even though she's nearly ready to graduate from Harvard with a perfect 4.0 GPA and already has a job lined up at a wealthy, important company that pays more a year that her father made in 10 - that it's the Ootori Corporation isn't important. She earned it, and everybody knows it.

And every once in a while, even after Mitskuni is married and Tamaki has taken over the Souh name and Haruhi and Takashi are engaged to be married, they'll have massive sleepovers in the living room of Takashi and Haruhi's house and over the years the couches are pushed back further and further to let in new people and wives and husbands but it always will be the seven of them in their high school uniforms at the forefront of their mantle.

Haruhi will sleep pressed into the back of the couch by Takashi, and his fingers will be wound into her hair and her hand will rest under his shirt on his hip - he might end up on the floor by morning, but honestly he won't mind and Haruhi will be crying with laughter.

And they'll build books of memories with and without the others, but their story will always begin with the clumsy girl knocking over the vase and the quiet boy picking her up instead of the pieces of glass on the floor.

* * *

**Happy birthday MissHikaHaru! Love you tons and I hope you enjoy this convoluted piece of fluff. **

**Seriously I don't even know if this makes sense to you guys but I love pieces like this so I wanted to try it out for myself! Let me know what you think !**

**Until next time Mina! Happy Birthday Lizzy!**


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